The Guide on the Side, Not the Sage on the Stage
September 2, 2010
I have some strong beliefs about the role of a Mastermind Group Facilitator: It’s Not About YOU.
The job of a Mastermind Group Facilitator is to help the group to coach each other, teach them how to brainstorm effectively, help hold each member accountable for taking action, and facilitate discussions. A skillful Facilitator helps to create a harmonious group where everyone feels safe and respected, and everyone is attempting to work towards their highest potential.
I see too many mastermind groups run by “gurus” where the focus is on the guru. When it’s someone’s turn to be in the Hot Seat, everyone is waiting for the guru to tell them what to do or how to think. In my opinion, that’s not true masterminding. The focus of a mastermind group should be on each other, not on the guru or coach.
That’s not to say that the Mastermind Group Facilitator can’t or shouldn’t be an expert in something. It helps if they are. But the facilitator should be the last to speak, not the first. If your ego is bound up in “being the guru,” then don’t confuse people by calling your group a mastermind group…it’s more akin to ”group coaching” or a “training group” if everyone is looking to the leader for the answer, or at least, for the questions.
I don’t know who first said this, but my hat’s off to whomever did: You are the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage.
How to be a Good Mastermind Group Member
August 17, 2010
Think being a mastermind group member is easy? Just ask member Chris Everson.
“I thought that all I had to do was offer advice and sit back and relax. I almost got fired from my group!”
There’s a heightened sense of responsibility that comes from being a mastermind group member. Mastermind groups succeed or fail based on everyone’s two-way involvement: both in asking for help and giving help. If you don’t have balance in those two areas, you’re not an asset to the group.
Here are some tips to being a super mastermind group member:
- Tell your group members what you need from the group that day. Do you just need to be heard or do you need them to brainstorm 30 new ideas with you? Do you need to be held accountable for getting things done or do you need a pat on the back for your successes?
- Don’t hog the limelight. Even if you’re in the Hot Seat, a mastermind group is about everyone getting a chance to share and connect. Try to speak in short paragraphs: get to the crux of the comment or question as quickly as possible, but don’t leave out any crucial information that will affect the conversation.
- Write your Prep Form the day before the meeting so that you’ve thought through the big questions in advance. Don’t prepare for the meeting 10 minutes before it starts and expect amazing results.
- Ask questions. If something doesn’t make sense, if a comment from a mastermind group member doesn’t align with their stated goals and values, if you feel there’s more under the surface: ask about it.
- Listen and take notes. Whether you are in the Hot Seat or someone else is, listening carefully in a focused way to what’s being said (and what’s not being said) will give you 100 times more information than just staring off into space. Taking notes helps you keep focused on the discussion at hand, and gives you a place to jot down your own ideas until it’s your turn to speak — you know how easy it is to have a brilliant idea just fly out of your head the moment you’re trying to remember it!
- Learn how to give constructive feedback. Never attack the person — attack the idea. Be robust in your thinking; don’t let people skate by with flimsy ideas or poorly thought-out action plans. Challenge each other to fulfill their potential and create success in their business and personal lives.
Yes, the success of a mastermind group depends on the quality of the mastermind group facilitator. But more importantly the success of your group depends on your willingness to devote yourself to your own success and the success of others.
Mastermind Group Retreat Weekends: A Great Idea
July 27, 2010
Whether you meet in a live group, or meet via teleconferencing, getting your mastermind group together for a 3-day Retreat Weekend will change the complexion of your group forever.
Each year, my telephone-based mastermind groups get together for a three-day Mastermind Group Retreat Weekend, typically starting early on Friday morning and running until lunchtime on Sunday. The purpose of our annual Retreat Weekend was to create a focus and a plan for the coming year.
The group in the photo above has been meeting via teleconferencing every month since 2002. Some members have left and new ones have joined the group, but the core has stayed steady. After four years of meeting together monthly on the phone, we decided to finally meet in person.
The energy was amazing! We had gotten to know each other in small time segments, 90 minutes at a time, during our monthly meetings. Spending three days together took our mastermind group to an entirely different level.
Here’s the way the agenda was formulated:
- Friday morning: Everyone arrives at 9:00 AM; coffee, tea and conversation for one hour.
- Friday morning/afternoon and Saturday morning: in-depth masterminding (one hour per person, or more), setting one-year goals, choosing yearly intentions, discussing what might hold us back.
- Saturday afternoon: success exercise (a few years ago, we did Vision Boards together).
- Saturday night: BBQ and bonfire — including burning of pieces of paper where we wrote the things we wanted to let go of in the coming year.
- Sunday morning: presentations/training by group members on specific topics of interest. Each group member gave a 20-minute presentation on a topic that they were an expert in or a topic that they were studying.
There are so many agenda variations you can play with during your retreat weekends, depending on what the people in your mastermind group need and want:
- Invite a guest speaker come in to talk
- Create guided visualizations of your annual goal
- Ask a lightening-round of Powerful Questions
- Take time for quiet seated or walking meditations
- Draw a mind map of a big project you want to complete in the coming year
- Bring in a massage therapist or reflexologist
- Encourage everyone to write in their journals
- Discuss a success book you’ve all been reading; ask how each member will apply it to their life
As you can see, a Retreat Weekend gives you a chance to mastermind to a level that you can’t do in shorter meetings. It also gives your members a chance to socialize, building stronger bonds with each other.
Inviting Guest Speakers to Your Group
July 13, 2010
One of the best ways to add variety and richness to your mastermind group meetings is by inviting guest speakers to give a talk on a particular topic.
First, survey your group and ask members to suggest speakers who can be approached by the Facilitator. Second, ask your members for specific topic areas they’d like to learn more about from an expert. Third, have your members vote on how much meeting time the speaker should use. For example if your meetings are two hours each, should the speaker use the full two hours, or perhaps only one hour?
As the Facilitator, it’s your job to contact the speaker, explain the nature of your group, and discuss the possibility of that speaker joining you for a meeting. Some speakers charge a fee, so ask upfront about any fees involved. Some speakers will speak for free and these speakers typically want to sell their product or service to the group. Set limits on how much time the speaker can spend talking about their products and services; make it clear that it’s the content of their speech that the members are primarily interested in. If they enjoy the content, they will be much more open to purchasing from that speaker. If they feel the speech is nothing more than a sales presentation, the speaker is wasting the group’s time.
If the speaker charges a fee, find out what it is. If you don’t already have a fund in place to pay for speakers, go to the members and ask if they’re willing to contribute to pay the speaker’s fee.
Finally, set a date and time for the speaker to present. Remind the speaker how many minutes they have and stick to that schedule, especially if you are planning to run a regular mastermind meeting after the speaker departs.
Getting Your Mastermind Group to Set and Keep Goals
June 29, 2010
One of the major benefits of belonging to a mastermind group is accountability. You share your goals with the group, and the group helps keep you on track by asking you about your Action Plan and what you’ve accomplished so far.
So how to you first get mastermind group members to set goals? It all starts with them voicing a vision for what they want in their life and business. What’s the Big Vision for their future?
Next, ask them to set intermediate goals that will lead them towards that Big Vision. Have the group brainstorm about which intermediate goals will be most effective and which may be a waste of time, money or resources.
Finally, ask the member to write out an Action Plan for achieving each intermediate goal. The group can help by making sure the action plan is accurate, includes not only what will be done, by what the deadline is, and who is going to do the work.
Each meeting, the member should review his/her action plan with the group and report on the status. Members should be listening for several things:
- Are action items getting done on a timely basis?
- Is the member trying to do everything themselves, or are they delegating what can be delegated?
- Are they adding in other action items that will not lead them towards their Big Vision?
- Where have they overestimated or underestimated the time it takes to do tasks?
By setting and keeping goals, your mastermind group achieves success. Have your mastermind group members work diligently on all aspects of their dreams for success, from the Big Vision to their Action Plan.
